What does ‘pookie’ even mean?

I’m not particularly active on social media. Between school, extracurricular activities, spending time with friends and family, and the occasional night out, there really isn’t much time left to be scrolling through my curated feeds.

Yet, for what feels like months now, one word keeps popping up on social media— “pookie.” Whether it’s Instagram, TikTok, or even X, this term seems to be everywhere. Interestingly, I’ve noticed people around me saying it more often as well, either sarcastically or with genuine, unironic, seriousness. Honestly, I’ve even caught myself dropping the term randomly in conversations.

“Pookie” began to trend mainly because of Prayag Mishra, an internet personality whose follower count and fame skyrocketed in mere months.

Referring to himself as “Big Pookie,” Prayag is the face of what is being referred to as the “sassy man trend.” He shares simple vlogs from his car where he speaks to the camera, or sometimes banters with fans he refers to as “Pookie Nation” or “Pookie Bears.” Pookie Nation is made up of four million followers.

However, “pookie” recently got another boost in virality, making the word practically inescapable. I’m of course referring to my current favourite couple on social media—Mrs. Campbell Hunt Puckett and Mr. Jett Puckett.

Campbell and Jett recently gained popularity through Campbell’s Instagram, where she posts pictures and reels of her, Jett, and their adventures. Many of these videos involve Jett either surprising her with a gift or praising her and her outfits, affectionately calling her “pookie” in a southern accent (which sounds like “peuky”). For example, in one of their most viral clips, he says “Taking Pookie to a new spot tonight with three other couples and Pookie looks absolutely amazing. Good lord, babe—I love the all black.”

In contrast to “Big Pookie” Prayag, Campbell and Jett gained their fame mainly due to confusion surrounding whether they are cute or cringe. Jett’s unique style of praising his wife struck many as something they hadn’t encountered on their feeds before.

Now that we’ve gotten the history and timeline of how “pookie” came to dominate our feeds, let’s understand what it even means.

To my surprise, the term originated in the 1900s in as a term of endearment for children, but found its way West in the 1960s. It eventually made its way to the Garfield series where Garfield’s teddy bear was named “Pooky.” Then, in the mid-2000s it began to become a more common term of endearment.

So, based upon my research, “pookie” is a term of endearment, referring to anything cute.

But I argue it’s become more than that. “Pookie” has transcended its own simple meaning, even losing its cuteness, to now being d with social media figures and influencers who have made the term a staple of their content. The term is now d with the contrasting opinions of those on social media surrounding Prayag and the “pookie couple.”

People either love it, find it annoying, or simply laugh it off as a joke.  As for me, I won’t be adopting it into my everyday vocabulary any time soon.

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